Using Brahman Bulls to upgrade your herd

[BC]

Good thing about an auction barn is that both buyer and seller leave thinking they got a great deal and both leave happy. And most times they have or the animal would have been PO'd or buyer would have quit bidding.

I have left the barn feeling like I got screwed. 3 year old breedable cow sold for $1 a pound. After that all I will send are my trash to the barn. Nothing else.

That is a good price on todays market for a cow that is not confirmed bred ("breedable" was your term). If she is open she is just a packer cow. Best packer cow walking is worth $78 to $84 per cwt.

 

[Caustic Burno]

If she is not palpated or open all she is Wolf Brand Chili material going through the barn. Three year old open cow coming through I am out soon as she hits the ring. I never understood why people don't get thier cows aged and palpated. Not doing so the regular back to the farm buyer is sitting on their hands.

 

[Newcutter]

Thanks for the responses. As for as taking a loss on the steers I have factored it to my plans. Since I want have pasture leases or loan notes to pay, This should offset my losses on the steers. I notice that a lot of you don't care for brahma Bulls, but aren't brangus and braford cattle part brahma. Here in east Texas all I see are brahma cross cattle. So why not run a brahma Bulls on a set of mixed cattle, and retain the heifers?

 

[Caustic Burno]

They are not Brahman but a standardized composite breed that will breed true. Brahman bulls are not desirable due to the train wrecks on English cattle, they are very slow to mature along with expensive.
I love brimmers bought my first brimmer cow almost fifty years ago.
Had a big ole hump back bull that was dog gentle as well they still can't fix the phenomen of behemoth bull calves on English cows.
I can't sell a dead calf. On a set of crossbred cows the bull selection is even more critical IMO. You have a pile of dna anomalies in the woodbox on Brahman crossbred cows .
Just science it is proven that an English bull suppresses BW while not growth on this type cow.
Played the game you are wanting to play before we knew the science or what a quality English or composite bull meant with highly predictable EPDs on crossbred cows. Buy a good set of chains is my advice.
Good luck cause your going to need it.

 

[Brute 23]

Thanks for the responses. As for as taking a loss on the steers I have factored it to my plans. Since I want have pasture leases or loan notes to pay, This should offset my losses on the steers. I notice that a lot of you don't care for brahma Bulls, but aren't brangus and braford cattle part brahma. Here in east Texas all I see are brahma cross cattle. So why not run a brahma Bulls on a set of mixed cattle, and retain the heifers?

Most of us love Brahman bulls. We just don't think it's the right bull for the application.

 

[greybeard]

Back in the day of open range here in this county, all you saw was mixed breed cows running with Brahma bulls in the National Forest. Of course, you never knew how many calves you lost or why, since they weren't gathered and separated but once a year, maybe twice a year if the forest service got antsy or if they all started looking wormy.
Most of them pretty rough looking cows and them old Brahma bulls were wore down and thin from chasing 100 cows. Seen long bunches of them walking across FM 2025 and 945 and did seem to be lots of calves tagging along. I suspect tho, that the buzzards ate pretty good back in those days.
CB--didn't they use mostly Brahmas on those WF cows down the other side of Winnie in the saltgrass country?

 

[Caustic Burno]

Yea they did and had no clue to how many they lost.
Heck GB some of those cows might not see a person for two or three years, they had no clue if she had a calf or not it was simply and purely survival of the fit. Didn't really know what they owned either. Watching those cows island hop in that Trinity delta country around Jacks Pocket was amazing anything survived. Remember seeing them dead by the thousands after Carla
I ran some of those same type girls in that salt grass country back in the 70's I got a lot of experience I will say that.
You remember the salebarn at Winnie and the ring and pens were built like. Every cowman needed to attend that sale once in their lifetime.

 

[BC]

CB, I always heard those old cows referred to as "swamp angels". Had to be tough because they made a living fighting mosquitoes and alligators with out much human interaction. I had the opportunity to go to the sale in Winnie one time in the early 1980's. You are right, everyone needed to see that show.

 

[texast]

I suggest make sure you're very selective on your Brahman bull. Look for the lower birth weight bull as it pertains to what you're trying to do. I've seen some of the more popular Brahman breeders they can tell if the bull you're purchasing will be suitable for none brahman influence cattle. You're going to pay for the bull The heifers that you don't keep should sale good.
I saw an ad for Bradford cows bred to Brahman bulls had nice calves on their side. Maybe you should go that way.

 

[Brute 23]

You can get Brahman cross heifers, some with calves at their side, for $1000-1500.

 

[greybeard]

CB, I always heard those old cows referred to as "swamp angels". Had to be tough because they made a living fighting mosquitoes and alligators with out much human interaction. I had the opportunity to go to the sale in Winnie one time in the early 1980's. You are right, everyone needed to see that show.

I bet the boys back in the pens earned every penny they got paid too.

 

[wacocowboy]

I love Brahma, but I see no point in breeding up a herd when I can go buy a herd of Brahma influenced cattle. Let someone else take the loss on bull calves. If I was going to buy cattle like you described I am going with a good Beefmaster bull since they have a higher percent of Brahma in them.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I love Brahma, but I see no point in breeding up a herd when I can go buy a herd of Brahma influenced cattle. Let someone else take the loss on bull calves. If I was going to buy cattle like you described I am going with a good Beefmaster bull since they have a higher percent of Brahma in them.

Big 10-4 on Beefmaster you could sell those heifers all day long here.

 

[BRYANT]

I love Brahma, but I see no point in breeding up a herd when I can go buy a herd of Brahma influenced cattle. Let someone else take the loss on bull calves. If I was going to buy cattle like you described I am going with a good Beefmaster bull since they have a higher percent of Brahma in them.

I raised mine because I could not find them in Oklahoma and what few I did seems the auctioneer always had to say something along the lines of ''If your looking for some calf raiser here they are boys'' and they brought WAY MORE than what they were worth. I even went to Hugo sale and Paris Tx. but was unable to find them, other than a few culls. I see them sell on the internet at some auctions in south Texas an Louisiana and think a person could go down there and buy a load and bring them back up here and make some good money ???? I do not know if they can take are cold because my Grandpa bought some from Louisiana and they didn't do to good when it got cold. I don't know but thought it was because they never had been around it ???

 

[Brute 23]

We have a family property that I hadn't been to in well over a year. Went there a couple weeks ago and my uncle had a big ole 50/50 Angus X Brahman bull. Looks like a Black Brahman bull. He is deep, big hump, but with out all the ear. I'll take a pic next time I'm there.

I'm trying to track one down right now from where he got his.

He use to raise and sell registered Limousine Cattle. He using those bulls to put some Brahman influence back in the herd. They are doing an excellent job.

 

[Brute 23]

I follow 2 Brahman Cattle groups on FB and it's surprising how far north you see Brahman and F1 cattle.

 

[M.Magis]

I follow 2 Brahman Cattle groups on FB and it's surprising how far north you see Brahman and F1 cattle.

Just curious, are they commercial herds or are they more of a hobby for the northern ones? I see one every once in a while around here, usually just a couple/year on CL. Run one through the salebarn and the order buyers act like a donkey just walked in.

 

[wacocowboy]

I love Brahma, but I see no point in breeding up a herd when I can go buy a herd of Brahma influenced cattle. Let someone else take the loss on bull calves. If I was going to buy cattle like you described I am going with a good Beefmaster bull since they have a higher percent of Brahma in them.

Big 10-4 on Beefmaster you could sell those heifers all day long here.

Yep I love Beefmaster females.

I love Brahma, but I see no point in breeding up a herd when I can go buy a herd of Brahma influenced cattle. Let someone else take the loss on bull calves. If I was going to buy cattle like you described I am going with a good Beefmaster bull since they have a higher percent of Brahma in them.

I raised mine because I could not find them in Oklahoma and what few I did seems the auctioneer always had to say something along the lines of ''If your looking for some calf raiser here they are boys'' and they brought WAY MORE than what they were worth. I even went to Hugo sale and Paris Tx. but was unable to find them, other than a few culls. I see them sell on the internet at some auctions in south Texas an Louisiana and think a person could go down there and buy a load and bring them back up here and make some good money ???? I do not know if they can take are cold because my Grandpa bought some from Louisiana and they didn't do to good when it got cold. I don't know but thought it was because they never had been around it ???

I could hit up the local sales and by the end of the week have a quality herd of middle age Brahma influenced mommas

 

[Muddy]

I follow 2 Brahman Cattle groups on FB and it's surprising how far north you see Brahman and F1 cattle.

Yup we have these things here, but I never seen one in a commercial beef herd. Minnesota winters are too hard on them and they're higher maintenance cattle.

 

[Muddy]

I follow 2 Brahman Cattle groups on FB and it's surprising how far north you see Brahman and F1 cattle.

Just curious, are they commercial herds or are they more of a hobby for the northern ones? I see one every once in a while around here, usually just a couple/year on CL. Run one through the salebarn and the order buyers act like a donkey just walked in.

Hobby breed here, you have a great chance to get a Brahman for cheap price or even free one. My bud got his Brahman cows for free and he housed them with the dairy cows during winters.